Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Reuben the Pink Fluffy Unicorn Dancing on a Rainbow

I'm horrified to note that, while I have made up a lot of the stuff that I knit, there is only ONE (measly) pattern on this blog. Therefore, I present to you Reuben the pink fluffy unicorn dancing on a rainbow. Netizens may recognise this theme from this video:

Yes. The strange asian guy with a big mouth and triangular eyebrows. (Somebody make a muppet of this guy already!)

To cut a long story short, due to a fortunate (or for some, unfortunate) string of events, pink unicorns became a 'thing' of a friend of mine. It soon became obvious that I had to make him a pink unicorn with an accompanying rainbow. And naturally, it had to be an amigurumi unicorn. With articulated legs. And prancing action.

Take a moment to admire his flowing mane.

Ta dah! Meet Reuben (: Reuben was crafted from the finest (read: cheapest) acrylic Boyes could offer. Boye's own brand acrylic is actually not too bad quality, and I quite like it for the bright colours. It was also fairly nice to work with, and in my opinion quite good for toy-crafting. Here are a few more pictures.

Let's pretend that my sheets are a fantastical world of clouds instead of a messy student's room...

Let us also pretend that this doesn't really, really look like a toy telephone instead of a rainbow...

Aww, look at how he hugs his rainbow buddy! I was really very pleased with this outcome. (Apart from the yellow, because the brighter version was out of stock.) Unfortunately, our gum-coloured friend has one slightly unfortunate feature:

I dub thee, CreepyNose.

Hmmmm. Too late to do anything about that I suppose. It's kinda like Professor Quirrel and Voldemort, if Voldemort was a large nose. Still, he was greatly appreciated so I was happy.

So if you're feeling brave and don't mind the Nose, try out the pattern for yourself! It's written in US terms (since that's how I learned it, so apologies to UK friends). Also further apologies if the pattern is not written very well, I recorded it as I made it, so it's written in my own crochet shorthand. I've tried to clarify it where it may be vague, but do write with questions (charmeng89 AT gmail DOT com) AND leave a comment (so it will be helpful to others who may have the same question) if you find any mistakes or want to check an instruction.

You don't need to be a super crocheter to complete this, however more intermediate crocheters may be more comfortable than beginners. Crochet skills involved: magic loop, single crochet (US), increasing and decreasing. The sewing is a bit trickier and may be a little fiddly with the small bits, so remember to leave long yarn tails to make sewing easier.

Stuff the head before completing the last rows, then draw the yarn through the last few stitches with a needle to cinch it shut.

Neck tube (in pink)

ch 2 (bottom of neck)

turn, sc 2 (incr on both ends of each row)

turn, sc 4

turn, sc 6

turn, sc 8

ch 27, join to other end of row to form a loop.

sc for 8 rows, with the last st of the 8th row a sl st instead of sc.

turn, ch 1, sc2tog, sc 16, sc2tog

turn, ch 1, sc2tog, sc 14, sc2tog...

Continue in this manner till

turn, ch 1, sc2tog, sc 6, sc2tog. Bind off. (top of neck)

Ears (make 2 in pink)

ch 2

turn, sc 2

turn, sc 4

turn, ch 1, 2sc, sc2tog, 2sc

turn, ch 1, 2sc, sc2tog twice

turn, ch 1, sc2tog, sc

turn, ch 1, sc2tog

Bind off, leaving long tail. Weave the tail through the edge (doesn't matter which) of the ear to emerge at the bottom, then pinch the base of the ear to form a crease and sew to the head.

Horn (in white)

ch 10, join to make a circle

sc 10

sc 10

sc2tog, sc 8

sc 9

sc 1, sc2tog, sc 6

sc 8

sc 2, sc2tog, sc4

sc 7

sc 3 sc2tog, sc 2

sc2tog 3 times, bind off.

Poke a little stuffing into the horn with a pencil/ chopstick.

Assembly:

Embroider a jolly face on the unicorn and sew his ears and horn on in the appropriate place. Sew the head to the top of the neck tube, matching the pointy bit to the tip of the head. Stuff the neck tube then sew to the body, matching the pointy end to the 'point' on the body. (The head will not necessarily face to the front. That is okay.)

Thread joint the legs to the body and use buttons if you like. (The linked tutorial includes both thread and button jointing techniques.)

Finally cut even lengths of white yarn and knot* to his neck and bum to make a mane and tail. The length is up to you!

*Fold the piece of yarn in half, partly draw bight through the neck along where you want the mane to be, and then pull the two ends through the bight to secure.

NOTE IF YOU ARE GIVING THIS TO A CHILD:

-Skip the buttons and sew the legs firmly onto the body instead of threadjointing. Threadjointing is not as secure as safety joints, but it is easier to repair.

-Use proper knots to do the mane and tail so the yarn cannot be easily picked out.

Stuff and then leave a long tail. sew tightly around the edges with 6 large stitches to cinch them into a cloud shape.

Rainbow

ch 20 st (I can't remember if I used more than this, you may want to adjust it if it is too long or short)

crochet plain:

2 rows blue

2 rows green

2 rows yellow

4 rows red

2 rows yellow

2 rows green

2 rows blue.

Sew the blue ends together to make a tube and stuff like a cannelloni.

Whipstitch flat side of clouds to either side of the rainbow sausage. Squidge it all together to make a U shape and sew the clouds securely where they touch so it all stays put.

YAY PINK FLUFFY UNICORN DANCING ON RAINBOW!

Nat enjoying his present (:

Messing around.

Reuben and his other friend, Steve the Urinal Cake Dragon. Don't ask. I... have strange friends.

This pattern is not to be used for commercial purposes. Copies can be made and shared freely as long as the source/ author is acknowledged. You may not sell the finished product unless it is for charity. The product must be labelled accordingly with pattern source.

Thanks Claire! I hope the pattern reads well... this is my first time writing a crochet pattern, so hopefully I translated the 'how to' in my head successfully! But most of all, I hope you enjoy making him (:

Thanks so much for this, Reuben is just amazing! I've already started making one for my niece :P I have a bit of a trouble with the neck part though, what do you mean by (incr on both ends of each row)? I'm finding hard to understand how the neck goes... Sorry but I'm fairly new to crocheting and I'm spanish also, I try to do my best to translate the patterns xD

Im in the midst of making this and im a little confused with the decreses for the nose/head. I dont quite understand how many sts to do before a decrease and for how long. With the way im doing it, this head is going to be huge!! Lol

I'm a little confused about what this means.Leg 'caps' in pink (increase/ decrease on both ends of each row)1. ch 2, turn, 2 sc2. 4 (2sc in first and last st)3. 64. continue plain for 4 rows5. 4 (sc2tog at both ends)6. 2

Hi Charmaine, i plan to blog about your pattern since I made a unicorn out of it. Is it okay if I repost your pattern with some adjustments I made? Of course with your recognition as the original author and with link directing to your blog. Thank you. ^^

Hi karleigh! I really love this unicorn pattern! Its adorable but im having a bit of trouble with the neck part where you said "sc for 8 rows, with the last st of the 8th row a sl st instead of sc." Where do i do the 8 rows of sc?

@Bree: so once you've done the little 'upside down triangle' of sts for the neck, you make a loop of ch st that starts and ends at either end of the last row of the 'triangle' that you just did, right? The sc 8 rows is just continuing in a tube starting on this loop of ch st.

i wonder if this would make it clearer? Also for @crochetforyou's query:

x__----------x..\/

Imagine the rough triangle shape there (ignore the X for now), that's your starting triangle. You make a chain and join where the X's are. Then you have a closed loop, just work in the round as per instructions.

I will see about making a little drawing in case this is still confusing... !

Hi, I love your unicorn! I'm currently trying to make one for a friend of mine, but I'm having trouble with the neck part. I don't really understand what I have to do after the 8 rows. What do you mean by "turn, ch 1, sc2tog, sc 16, sc2tog"? I mean, in the last row ( row 8th) I counted 32 sts, did I do something wrong? O.o It would help me if you could maybe send me a video with how you do it to my email address tudor.andra.maria@gmail.com !!! Thanks a lot, and again I love your unicorn!!! ^3^

Hi I love your pattern and thank you so much for sharing it with us! I'm completely stuck on the neck. I've managed the triangle for the beginning, I then chain 27 and connect it with a sl st, so it's now one big loop connected by the triangle.

The whole ch 1, turn, 2tog, SC 16...that's what confuses me as you're continually chaining one and turning and doing this so you're only working back and fourth on one bit of this whole loop...is this right? I'm so very confused by this part and it's such a shame as I've already completed the body and limbs!! :(

About Me

A pedantic knitter, crocheter and whatever you call people who embroider and sew things.
I'm a postgraduate student in clinical psychology. To keep myself sane, I feed my craft addiction - but the work doesn't leave a whole lot of time to update this blog or reply to messages. However, I hope you enjoy what little I share here. (: